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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Crothian" data-source="post: 2010792" data-attributes="member: 232">Ruined Keep    Ruined Keep is an adventure for characters around seven to ninth level.  The adventure deals with the exploration of some ruins.  The history is rich and the story is well crafted, but the adventure is a dungeon crawl with some things to figure out.  The adventure is also not that long, a session or two should easily get a party through this.  This is also the second module in a series.  However the first module, Goblin Cave, does not have to be gone through first to play this module.      Ruined Keep is a pdf adventure written by Peter Donis of PT Games.  The adventure numbers 32 pages in length and that includes some new monsters, a prestige class, and a few other extras.  The adventure comes in a zip file a little over 1.7 megs.  The unzipped adventure is almost two megs in size.  The adventure cost five dollars and may be a little high for what is given.      The art in the book is lacking and what little is there seems uninspired.  The cover is a simple run down keep and the black and white drawings inside fail to really add to the adventure.  This art seems like is just there.  I’m not sure it would be missed if it was gone.  The layout on the other hand is very well done.  The sections are well labeled; sidebars are easily identified and easy to read.  The two columns of text also move around the art and the sidebars with ease.  The side and top and bottom borders are nicely proportioned making it easy to use when printed.  There are four maps.  One the area to get to the Ruined Keep and shows were the Goblin Cave from the first module is on the made.  The second map is of the keep and the last two are of the two dungeon levels beneath the keep.      The pdf has no bookmarks.  Bookmarks are a great advantage pdfs have over printed books.  The bookmarks are an index that takes one right to the page of the topic one is looking for.  They make it easier for people to use the product on a laptop while at the gaming table.      The adventure itself as I said above is not that complex.  The group is hired to go explore some ruins.  There is not a lot of role playing potential, although there are some interesting encounters.  For instance there is a ghost that is trying to help out the party, but can easily cause them some severe problems.  The dungeon crawl can be worked pretty well if the pacing is done right be the dungeon master.  While most of plot is wrapped up in the future adventures area there are some that are left open.  It seems to allow for a third module in the series, but even without this any DM will easily be able to handle this.  Overall, it seems like a good dungeon crawl for people who enjoy them.    There are some new rules presented her as well.  There are high humans, a race of humans that have their ageing penalties lessened.  There is a new type of undead called the Guardian Spirit.  They are the remains of guards who can be defeated for a while, but can only be truly destroyed by a certain ritual that is different for each one.  It is a neat little idea that could add some role playing to a usually mundane encounter.  There is a new spell called Hidden Lock.  It is a combination illusion to hide the door and arcane lock to protect the door spell.  There is also a prestige class called Knights of the West.  It is a martial oriented class.  They get bonus feats as fast as a fighter as well as other abilities so it might be a little on the strong side.      Overall, this is a decent little module.  It is a dungeon crawl, so only go near it if you enjoy those sorts of adventures.  The back story is interesting and can easily lead to many more adventures.  However, there is nothing here that really makes it any better or worse then other adventures.</blockquote>

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